1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reel unit. More specifically, the present invention relates to a reel unit of a spinning reel and a cover member for the reel unit.
2. Background Information
A spinning reel generally includes a reel unit mounted on a fishing rod, a handle rotatively attached to a reel unit, a rotor rotatively mounted to the reel unit, and a spool mounted to the reel unit forward of the rotor so as to be able to shift back and forth. Fishing line is guided by the rotor and is wound around the outer periphery of the spool.
The reel unit is furnished with a T-shaped rod-attachment leg mounted on a fishing rod, and a reel body that is formed unitarily with the rod-attachment leg with a variety of mechanisms being accommodated in the interior of the reel body. The reel body includes a main unit and a lid member. The main unit has an accommodating space in the interior thereof that opens to the side. The lid member is detachably mounted on the main unit so as to cover the opening of the main unit.
A drag mechanism is provided in this type of a spinning reel in order to apply braking force to the rotation of the spool. A front drag mechanism that is disposed on the front of a spool shaft, and a rear drag mechanism that is disposed on the rear of the spool shaft, are known drag mechanisms for spinning reels. The front drag mechanism is mounted in the interior of the spool, and the rear drag mechanism is mounted on the rear of the reel unit.
With a spinning reel on which this kind of rear drag mechanism is mounted, the reel unit is unitarily formed in a cylindrical shape so as to project rearward, in order to match the contour of a cylindrical drag knob that serves to operate the rear drag mechanism (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-313079). By forming a cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion on the rear of the reel unit, a variety of mechanisms of the rear drag mechanism can be accommodated in the interior, and can match the shape of the drag knob.
In the aforementioned conventional spinning reel provided with the rear drag mechanism, the rear drag accommodating portion is formed in a cylindrical shape that projects outward on the rear of the reel unit. Thus, because the shape of the reel body as a whole will become complicated, a special die needs to be employed so that a main portion of the reel body and the cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion will be unitarily formed. This makes the task of forming the reel body time consuming, and may increase manufacturing costs.
In view of this, some have considered forming the main portion of the reel body, the cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion, and a cover portion separately. Here, after forming the main portion of the reel body and the cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion separately, an engagement portion is formed on the rear of the main portion, and then the cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion is engaged with and fixedly attached to the engagement portion. By forming the main portion of the reel body and the rear drag accommodating portion separately like this, the reel body can be easily formed without having to employ a special die.
In addition, with this type of spinning reel, some have considered forming on the rear portion of the reel unit a mounting portion that is partially recessed, and providing an attachable cover member that is smoothly continuous with the reel body, in order to further improve the design of the spinning reel. This type of cover member includes a circular opening in the rear portion thereof, and a separate cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion mounted on the rear end of the reel body from the opening of the cover member.
In this type of spinning reel on which a cover member is mounted, a plurality of engagement portions for engaging the cover member and the cylindrical rear drag accommodating portion are formed on the reel body. Thus, because the reel body of this spinning reel includes a plurality of engagement portions, the reel body may become enlarged.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved reel unit of a spinning reel that overcome the above mentioned problems of the prior art. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.